La britannica Bp ha chiuso un accordo per risarcire gli investitori che avevano acquistato le azioni dopo l'incidente al largo della Louisiana. Tra 2016 e 2017 risarcirà 175 milioni di dollari per scongiurare l'apertura di un nuovo processo

Il più grave disastro ambientale della storia americana: 106 giorni di sversamento di petrolio al largo del Golfo del Messico. Dal 20 aprile al 4 agosto 2010, il greggio in uscita dal pozzo Macondo della piattaforma Deepwater Horizon, a 1.500 metri di profondità, ha causato la morte di 11 persone e danni difficili da dimensionare.

Oggi la britannica Bp, la compagnia responsabile dell’impianto, ha chiuso un accordo per risarcire gli investitori che avevano acquistato le azioni dopo l’incidente ma prima che ne fossero note le effettive dimensioni: tra 2016 e 2017 risarcirà 175 milioni di dollari per scongiurare l’apertura di un nuovo processo, il cui inizio era già fissato per il mese prossimo.

La richiesta degli investitori si basava sul fatto che Bp aveva pubblicamente ridimensionato la quantità di greggio fuoriuscita. A quanto pare le cifre reali erano circa dieci volte maggiori rispetto a quanto dichiarato dalla compagnia all’epoca, quando si parlava di un quantitativo tra i 1.000 e i 5.000 barili. Il greggio furiuscito, hanno poi rivelato le stime, si aggira infatti attorno ai 4,9 milioni di barili.

Finora, i vari risarcimenti, le multe e la bonifica sono costati a Bp 56,4 miliardi di dollari: 18,7 miliardi sono andati al governo Usa e ai cinque Stati colpiti dall’inquinamento, 12,9 per risarcire imprese e individui danneggiati, e 4 miliardi a seguito delle condanne. Ma lo strascico processuale del disastro non è ancora terminato.

All’incidente e le sue conseguenze è dedicato un film in uscuta nelle sale statunitensi il 30 settembre. Il titolo è Deepwater Horizon ed è diretto da Peter Berg (Lone Survivor), con Dylan O’Brein, Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich e Kate Hudson.

Un'immagine della piattaforma petrolifera della BP "Deepwater Horizon" in fiamme nel Golfo del Messico, il 22 maggio 2010. ANSA / DANIEL BELTRA / GREENPEACE HANDOUT NO SALES / EDITORIAL USE ONLY
La piattaforma in fiamme il 22 maggio 2010. Ansa/Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace

epa02402643 Greenpeace activists splatter luxury cars and a mock pelican with oil six months after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, mocking industry car shows, in front of the office of European carmaker association ACEA in Brussels , Belgium, 20 October 2010. Greenpeace said "The transport sector is not pulling its weight in the climate effort.'' The vehicle lobby argues that such targets are hard to reach, but recent technological advances have shown that fuel consumption in vans can easily be reduced. Some top-selling models have achieved over 10 per cent cuts in emissions since 2007. Proposals tabled by the Commission would require carmakers to cut emissions by 14 per cent between 2007 and 2016. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
Proteste degli attivisti di Greenpeace. Epa/Olivier Hoslet

epa02250539 A worker with Patriot, a company contracted with BP, cleans oil sludge after decontaminating used boom from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill response at a facility in Theodore, Alabama, USA on 16 July 2010. According to officials, the facility has repaired and redeployed over 25 miles of boom since the response began. The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which began almost 3 months ago, is the largest in US history and continues to threaten wildlife, the ecosystem and the economy of the Gulf Coast as BP and government officials attempt to stop the flow and remove what has already been released. EPA/DAN ANDERSON
La decontaminazione di un mezzo intervenuto per la bonifica. Epa/Dan Anderson

epa02144840 Handout photograph from NASA made available on 05 May 2010 from the Aqua satellite as it flew over the oil spill from the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drill rig disaster located in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana, USA, on 04 May 4 at 2:50 p.m. EDT. ANSA/ NASA/Goddard/MODIS Rapid Response Team / HO EDITORIAL USE ONLY / NO SALES
Le immagini della macchia di greggio riprese il 4 maggio 2010 dal satellite Aqua della Nasa.
Ansa/ Nasa/Goddard/MODIS Rapid Response Team

Un'immagine della piattaforma petrolifera della BP "Deepwater Horizon" in fiamme nel Golfo del Messico, il 22 maggio 2010. Una piattaforma petrolifera al largo della costa della Louisiana si e' incendiata e successivamente è esplosa oggi nel Golfo del Messico. I tredici lavoratori della piattaforma si sono rifugiati in acqua. Elicotteri e navi della guardia costiera si stanno recando sul luogo dell'incidente. La piattaforma, proprieta' della Mariner Energy, e' ancora in fiamme. DANIEL BELTRA / GREENPEACE HANDOUT NO SALES / EDITORIAL USE ONLY
La Deepwater Horizon in fiamme nel Golfo del Messico, il 22 maggio 2010. Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace

Esplosione sulla piattaforma Deepwater Horizon gestita dalla britannica BP nel 2012. ANSA / PETTY OFFICER SCOTT LLOYD/ HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES
Esplosione sulla piattaforma Deepwater Horizon.
Ansa / Petty Officer Scott Lloyd

July 30, 2010 - Grand Isle, LA, United States of America - Aerial view of sandbag barriers to prevent crude oil leaking from the blowout of the BP Oil Deepwater Horizon from entering the marsh estuary July 30, 2010 in Grand Isle, Louisiana. (Credit Image: © Louisiana Governors Office/Planet Pix via ZUMA Wire)
30 luglio 2010 – Barriere di sacchi di sabbia a Grand Isle, Louisiana. © Louisiana Governors Office/Planet Pix via ZUMA Wire

 

epa02251746 People walk their dog on a virtually empty beach near oil caught in the ripples of the sand in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA 17 July 2010. While BP is evaluating a new containment cap that they hope will allow them to eventually shut down the blown well, oil from the Deepwater Horizon leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues to reach shore, affecting beaches, marshes and wildlife along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. EPA/ANN HEISENFELT
Baia di St. Louis, Mississippi, 17 July 2010. Epa/Ann Heisenfelt

epa02250571 A still life of a dead crab and jelly fish found in the surf today in Longbeach, Mississippi. Hopes run high that BP"s capping of the oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, will be successful and will prevent more oil from polluting the Gulf and the shorelines. US states that have been impacted so far stretch from Texas to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Longbeach, Mississippi, USA, 16, July, 2010. EPA/BEVIL KNAPP
Longbeach, Mississippi, 16 luglio 2010. Epa/Bevil Knapp

epa02243206 A heavily oiled 'Oyster Catcher' bird found on the beach today as workers clean the beaches along the Gulf of Mexico while the oil continues to leak from the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States. This disaster continues to spread impacting fishermen and tourist revenues along the entire Gulf Coast. Waveland, Mississippi,USA, 09, July, 2010 EPA/BEVIL KNAPP
Waveland, Mississippi, 9 luglio 2010. Epa/Bevil Knapp

June 26, 2010 - Gulf Of Mexico, LA, United States of America - The drill ship Discoverer Enterprise and Q4000 burn off gas from the uncapped Deepwater Horizon wellhead as clean up continues in the largest oil disaster in history June 26, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. (Credit Image: © Sgt. Casey Ware/Planet Pix via ZUMA Wire)
26 giugno 2010. © Sgt. Casey Ware/Planet Pix via ZUMA Wire

epa02218961 A live video feed from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) shows crude oil as it escapes from the Deepwater Horizon BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico 23 June 2010. A containment cap over the wellhead had to be removed after one of the ROVs struck it damaging a vent allowing the well to flow freely into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil continue to escape as company and federal officials try to stop the flow and continue to battle to save wildlife and the shorelines. EPA/BP HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY / NO SALES
23 giugno 2010. La fuoriuscita del greggio ripresa da un veicolo telecomandato. Epa/Bp

epa02213525 Airboat operator Michael Fabian's glove is dripping with thick crude oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Bay Jimmy marsh section of Barataria Bay near Port Sulpher, Louisiana, USA, 20 June 2010. Plaquemines Parish officials are using portable vacuums to slowly collect the oil at their own expense. The BP oil spill is the largest in US history and continues to threaten wildlife, the ecosystem and the economy of the Gulf Coast as BP and government officials attempt to stop the flow and remove what has already been released. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
Port Sulpher, Louisiana, 20 giugno 2010. Epa/Erok S. Lesser

epa03471929 (FILE) A file photo dated 19 June 2010 showing oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill being corralled and burned on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, USA. British oil giant British Petroleum BP could face a fine of between three to five billion US Dollar in a settlement of criminal claims relating to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, media reports state on 15 November 2012. The fine could be the 'largest criminal penalty in US history', the reports add. The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had caused a severe environmental disaster in the region. EPA/BEVIL KNAPP
19 giugno 2010. Gli interventi di bonifica attorno alla piattaforma Epa/Bevil Knapp

epa02214843 A Greenpeace handout photo shows a group of baby brown pelicans, completely covered in oil, wait in a holding pen to be treated as part of the cleaning process at the Fort Jackson International Bird Rescue Research Center in Buras, Louisiana, USA, 21 June 2010. Members of the Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research team work to clean birds covered in oil from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead. The BP leased Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded on April 20 and sank after burning. EPA/DANIEL BELTRA / GREENPEACE HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES
Una foto di Grennpeace motra un gruppo di piccoli pellicani coperti dal greggio in attesa dell’intervento di pulizia Epa/Daniel Beltra / Greenpeace

June 18, 2010 - Gulf Of Mexico, LA, USA - View of a controlled surface burn of oil collected from the Deepwater Horizon spill as part of the clean up and containment operation June 18, 2012 in the Gulf of Mexico. (Credit Image: © Nsf/Planet Pix via ZUMA Wire)
18 giugno 2010, Golfo del Messico. Incendi controllati per la puliaiza e il contenimento della fuoriuscita di greggio. © Nsf/Planet Pix via ZUMA Wire

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Un pellicano pochi giorni dopo l’incidente

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Il presidente Obama in sopralluogo sulle coste delle Louisiana

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I tecnici intervenuti dopo l’incidente sistemano le bande di contenimento del greggio